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DES MOINES, Iowa –Conventional wisdom says college basketball is a guard's game in March; that championships are won by the teams with dynamic backcourts that dictate tempo, disrupt on defense and can be counted on for smart decisions.

Kentucky has proven that truism to be false.

Blessed with the best guard combination in the country, the commanding Tyler Ulis and the expert marksman Jamal Murray, the Wildcats were eliminated from the NCAA tournament Saturday night in large part because of their lack of balance.

Indiana’s 73-67 victory exposed season-long issues UK had mostly masked, specifically the lack of a two-dimensional frontcourt presence and more generally a dangerous reliance on perimeter players creating their own shots.

For all of his preseason hype, freshman center Skal Labissiere is still too spindly to do battle beneath the boards. For all of his wondrous athleticism, forward Alex Poythress remains prone to baffling disappearances. For all of the impact of his outside shooting in creating space for other players, slow-footed forward Derek Willis can be a defensive liability.

The Wildcats scored exactly two second-chance points Saturday night – a pair of Poythress free throws with 11 seconds left in the game. Other than Ulis and Murray, no UK player made more than two field goals.

You can sometimes win that way, provided your two stars are on target, but it’s a formula for frustration against better competition in bigger games.

“I didn't think it would be shooting, but we knew if a couple of players didn't give us great efforts we would struggle to win,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “I knew that before the game. ... Each level you go in this thing, you're going to have a team full of (complementary) guys performing. They don't have to be great, but they can't have the five gazillion – in other words, five minutes, twelve minutes and everything is zeroes across the (stat) line.”

Though Willis said he had doubted the Hoosiers could match up with Kentucky, Indiana coach Tom Crean concentrated on containing Ulis and Murray, gambling against a breakout performance by UK’s supporting actors.

Like a lot of opposing coaches, Crean’s primary goals were to keep Ulis out of the lane and to deny Murray his accustomed space beyond the 3-point line. Unlike a lot of opposing coaches, though, Crean’s strategy succeeded.

“We're normally the most efficient offensive team in the country,” Calipari said. “There's two things that happened. We had six offensive fouls. I don't know if in my career I've had a team have six offensive fouls. Then, we couldn't make open shots so we have eight assists. ... We missed a ton of really good shots.

“But these kids aren't machines. They're not computers. Stuff happens and you try to figure it out.”

As the game progressed, and Indiana’s lead grew to as many as 10 points, Ulis and Murray figured out that whatever chance Kentucky had rested on their shoulders. Afterward, Ulis remembered locking eyes with his backcourt sidekick with common purpose.

“We’ve got to make things happen,” he said.

They tried. After Isaiah Briscoe made a layup at 3:52 to slice Indiana’s advantage to 62-54, Ulis and Murray would take all six of Kentucky’s shots from the field. When Ulis was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 35 seconds remaining, he sank all three of his free throws to make it 68-65.

The Wildcats kept fouling Indiana freshman Thomas Bryant to create more possessions, but Bryant made four free throws in the final minute to keep Kentucky at bay. Ulis would foul out with two seconds remaining.

If that was his last appearance as a college player, Ulis will be remembered as a remarkable player who didn't have enough help.

Tim Sullivan can be reached at (502) 582-4650, tsullivan@courier-journal.com or @TimSullivan714 on Twitter.